As the prosecution prepares to wrap up its case on Friday, the question of whether Aimee Bock will testify in her own defense remains open, according to her attorney.
Kenneth Udoibok, after court on Thursday, told reporters he doesn’t want Bock to testify, but his client “wants to be heard.”
Two FBI forensic accountants on Thursday detailed the flow of money for several entities associated with Bock’s Feeding Our Future and Salim Said, the co-owner of Safari Restaurant.
The two are accused of overseeing nearly $250 million in Federal Child Nutrition Program fraud during the pandemic. Prosecutors have been detailing a vast network of shell companies and vendors, which prosecutors say created the illusion of thousands of meals being prepared and delivered.
FBI Forensic Accountant Pauline Roase testified about several shell companies associated with sites operating under Safari Restaurant. In each case, nearly all the money in the accounts was derived from the food program, but very little was spent on food purchases. Safari groups were reimbursed $45.8 million from the Minnesota Department of Education.
“The amount spent on food is significantly low,” Roase told jurors.
She also detailed Bock using funds in the Feeding Our Future account to pre-pay sites for claims before they were paid out by MDE. The FBI witness said Bock issued a total of $5.3 million in pre-payments — $2.9 million of which went to Safari Group sites.
During the investigation, the FBI noted the formation of 21 Feeding Our Future sites along a 1.8-mile stretch of Lake Street. Altogether, Roase testified that the “cluster” of sites claimed to serve 12.8 million meals for which they were reimbursed $34.3 million.
Jurors also heard from Sonya Jansma, another forensic accountant for the FBI, who testified about how Said spent money from his account for Salim Limited LLC:
- He put down $890,000 on the Park Avenue South mansion. The building’s full price was $2.78 million, and it would later become an office building.
- $866,000 for a business in Ohio.
- Nearly $1 million for a 5,962-square-foot house in Plymouth
- $107,000 toward a Chevy Silverado pickup truck and a Mercedes GLS SUV.
Jansma is expected to finish testifying on Friday and is the prosecution’s final witness. The defense will then begin calling its own witnesses.
Stay with 5 EYEWITNESS NEWS for ongoing reporting on air and online.
You can find more of KSTP’s reporting on the Feeding Our Future case here.
